To Have You In These Arms Tonight
by TallestCora
Summary: A sad, sweet Song-fic about Professor Membrane thinking about his lost wife. Recounting his memories of the past and what led up to her disappearance, as well as some clues as to who she actually was. Angsty, really. Don't say I didn't warn you! A rather different take on how much he cares about his family, too. Song: "To Have You In These Arms Tonight", by Bon Jovi.


"To Have You In These Arms Tonight"

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Invader Zim, but I do own Membrane's wife, (Whoo! Man! That sounded _wrong_!) who is mentioned in here. I'm not going to say her name, though, because that would ruin the fic! (Though I obviously DON'T own the song, due to FF dot Net's stinkin' "copyright infringement" stuffs I've taken most of the lyrics out. Mostly the first line of each batch of lyrics is written. Then the first and last batches of lyrics are there. But for the full lyrics, please listen to the song along with it!)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a song-fic about Membrane thinking about his long-lost wife. It's set in my little universe where Membrane's wife...well, actually, I'll have to do this little AN after the story, just to keep from ruining it!

Oh, wait... "Target" is the name of my Invader Zim universe's "France". (Pronounced in a French accent, with the soft "j" sound and silent "t" at the end: Tar-jay)

It's taken from the target-colored flag that the Stereotypical French-looking Leader had on his screen in the episode, "Chickenfoot". You know, when Professor Membrane was giving all those world leaders a tour of his house? And then they all laughed at Dib. Yeah. It seems Jhonen didn't want the world to be just exactly like ours, so, uhm...yeah. Even all the flags are different! That's why I named the Zim-world's "France" "Target". *Nods* Mmm-yep!

Also, the name of the town, "Muscatane", means nothing. I just thought the name sounded nice and sort-of French!

The song is Bon Jovi's "In These Arms".

**"To Have You In These Arms Tonight"**

You want commitment

Take a look into these eyes

They burn with fire,

Yeah

Until the end of time

And I would do anything

I'd beg

I'd steal

I'd die

To have you in these arms tonight

Membrane walked slowly into his room. The nights and days were long for him, now that he was on his own...still...

Even when there was no other reason to, he still kept it, kept things the way they had always been. Always been...

He stood at the side of the bed. It was so many...so many! So many long years. And how long...? It felt like his head would burst. He sat down on the bed.

It wasn't supposed to be this long. It wasn't supposed to be like this! They were supposed to be together, they were supposed to be-! He caught himself, in a choke, and put his face into his hands. It _had_ been so long... And how many years was it, again?... It had been so long...

He had went almost out of his mind, trying to correct his one mistake. If it hadn't have been for his children, ...what? If it hadn't have been for his children, then he would never have lived...

So, he guessed, he had to thank her. If it hadn't have been for those two kids, he never would have lived through it. If it was only for the lengthening of his sparratic, one life-time...

What was it? He had always wondered what the problem was, what the mistake was, what was the one thing that went wrong? Everything was so exactly calculated, so completely timed...it just couldn't have failed...!

He had tried to find it, but it... Everytime he tried to think of it, he cried. It had been easy, at first. An obsessive, manaic drive... But _it_ even didn't last. It wasn't that he _would_ have given up, it was that he either had one thing to take care of, the children needed to be cared for, the baby-sitter is disfigured... How did that happen again...? Oh, well, it wasn't important...

He had actually exhausted all of his savings in order to find the solution. But, whenever it hadn't worked, one of his research and findings was hailed as the most important find in the history of the world, and he didn't need to worry about any money anyways.

But he actually didn't even care when it had happened, because all that he could think of was how, how, how, long it had failed! He didn't even care about anything...

Baby I want you

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

He wasn't going to cry about it. But as he sat there, all through the long, ticking hours, all through the pain, all through the memories... He didn't fight to keep back the tears. He knew that they would come, and he knew that it was all old wounds... He had cried so hard and so painfully after it had first happened, and he had no doubts that his kids could hear him. Even with these tough walls, and he was grateful that they were just babies, that they couldn't remember it. Or could they...? How could he even tell...? If they had, or hadn't they...? But, now, they were just tears that would run, trickling, down his face. Down into his mouth. He could taste them.

He could still remember when they'd first met. She was one of the prettiest girls in Skool -at least, he thought so- and he had finally taken up the courage to talk to her.

It was in Hi-Skool. His Junior year. And it was already looking like the worst year for obtaining a girl-friend that the student body had ever known.

He stood there, in his black lab-shirt with his white lab-coat over it, and an old, ratty pair of jeans. Nervously, he had begun fidgeting from one foot to the other, and he was vaguely giving off the impression of one who really needed to go to the bathroom.

But, he had gotten her attention when he called, "Hey, uh, Violet-hair Girl!" which was the name that everyone used when talking about her, and so he now had to figure out quickly what he was going to say.

"Um, um, uh, um, h-hi!" He mumbled. Her face looked at him with a soft, kindly look. Her eyes were a beautiful light-brown, with an almost honey color to them, and her striking, sharp, violet hair was so stunning! Her dark eyelashes contrasted beautifully with her delicate, pure white skin, which looked like it had never seen too much or too little daylight.

He tried to take deep, calm breaths, but his goggles, which fit badly and were too big for him anyways, fogged up, and he had to take them off. The second he looked up from wiping his lenses, he was stunned to see that she was smiling at him! She was _happy_ when he had taken his goggles off...!?

There was a long moment of silence, in which he was seriously considering whether she was lost looking into his eyes.

"I-I'm..I'm M-Mem, just Mem, no last name, actually. I-I'm, uh...How ar-" He stated, finally breaking the silence. He had finally stopped stuttering when he got to his name, but he wasn't sure just how to proceed after that. Thankfully, she interrupted him.

"I'm...yeah, I'm Gazira. Gazira Fantôme Du Marrage." She stated. "How do you do?" She said the last part with the airs of someone who had been taught from infancy the correct way to speak. But not by choice. It was just...habit.

"Gazira..." He faintly mouthed under his breath. What a pretty name. "Um, I'm well, thank-you." He replied, with a little uncertainty.

"Um, so..." She began. But she faintly had any idea how to continue it.

"Um, well, um, I was just wondering...!" Began Membrane. He had to quickly come up with something to keep from losing her attention! "Um, have you ever looked at a phosphorescent caterpillar under a black light?"

Now, normally, one would think, when you talk to a girl, the _least_ interesting thing to say is something pertaining to bugs. But, surprisingly, it wasn't.

Her eyes lit up at the mention of the word, "caterpillar". She excitedly said, "Really?! A phosphorescent caterpillar? What is it called?!"

He was slightly surprised, but he continued on, undaunted. He explained everything he could know about the poor, pathetic little caterpillar, and to his surprise, he learned that she had a love for real science!

Everything had been different from that day on. Everyday continued the amazing romance, with each scientific discovery bringing them closer and closer to each other. It was as if this real-life drama would never end! If he said it was perfect, that would be lying. They had plenty of problems, but they never once had the idea of leaving.

Everyone had finally stopped making fun of him at Skool and began to support him. Gazira was an amazing scientist, and with her by his side, everything started looking great. They were becoming famous, and they were making new breakthroughs in the field of science faster than anyone else.

He even took her to the Prom, and then got his first kiss! All, of course, thanks to the help of the soles on his new platform shoes. For some reason, they always put one off-balace, no matter how one stood! Ahhh...sweet, sweet, deformities!...

He paused, stopping in his thoughts. 'Oh, yeah, that was how that happened...!' The baby-sitter deformity coming briefly to mind, but he brushed it away quickly. He continued in his thoughts.

He let out a low moan as he breathed, rubbing his face with his hands.

If it could go back to those sweet, sweet, days, and those tiresome nights... But no things can go backwards. Not even time...

I'd hold ya

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

If only he could have known about what would happen! And then...and then...and then...even if he did know, he couldn't have helped it.

He breathed deeply into his hands again. Just having his hands over his face made him feel less pathetic about crying.

She was so amazing; she was deep and introverted, and at times she was excited and flamboyant. She was always terrifying with those striking eyes, and yet, she didn't turn their horrors on him. As much. She was almost as tall as he was, she had a deadly sense of humor, and she could bench-press over 500 pounds on any given day. She was once cornered by two men, each weighing over 250 pounds easily, and she simply grabbed each by their legs, swung them around, and let them fly.

He sighed. She was an amazing woman!

She wasn't the most contemporary of all the girls, and she wasn't from a brainy family. In fact, she was from a very prestigious, very old-fashioned family, and she was the only one who was interested in science at all. Once, she'd told him that she was of a long line of mysterious royalty, each one of her female predecessors a representative of the monsters in this world. But of course, as always, he had misunderstood her -and if he ever knew what she was talking about, he would kick himself in the guts for ever telling Dib to leave anything having to do with the paranormal alone! If that was even anatomically possible.

She had always told him that her family -and everyone in her ancestral home, a village in Targe`t- was very old-fashioned, and they still held tight to all the old beliefs and the customs of their old heritage. It wasn't that they didn't believe scientific fact, but it was in fact that they knew things that others didn't. But, of course, Membrane didn't think a thing of it.

The time had come, when she and he were talking about getting married. She told him that her family was very old-fashioned, and if he wanted to marry her, he would have to ask her father's permission!

So, they made the long trip across the seas to Targe`t, to the Fantôme Du Marrage's traditional residence, a long-time standing small mansion, the current version established about 210 years past. It had been re-built numerous times throughout the centuries. It was as if it had been there forever-!

He was welcomed with all the hospitality and great airs befitting so ancient a name, and was soon seated comfortably in the living room while the rest of the meal was prepared.

After the meal, her father had taken him aside, and as they sat in the living room while the rest of the family retired to another room for light conversation, he asked him what his intentions were with his daughter.

Membrane smiled. He had been so scared at that moment in time! But, as he looked back on it now, he knew that it was exactly the same thing he would want his _own_ daughter's boyfriend to do. After all, he _was_ the father.

He remembered how her father had called her "Our Princess", and how he had thought, at that exact moment, that he wished he could someday have a little girl to call his little "Princess".

He had mustered up the courage, and now he spoke directly, making himself put forth a viasge of someone who had mettle.

After their talk, her father had finally said to him, "Well, you've certainly proven yourself. I would be honored to have you as my Son-in-law!"

Membrane hadn't known what to say. He had been so happy, he almost wanted to cry! After all of the things he went through, he was finally being given permission to marry the woman of his most beautiful, nightmarish dreams! He cried out a joyful, "Oh, THANK YOU! Thank you!" and hugged his soon-to-be Father-in-law, squeezing him until he begged for breath. Then he let go.

We stared at the sun

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

It was a most beautiful wedding, with all of the charms of the darkly old-fashioned village where she lived, but he didn't really notice any of that. All he could see was his beautiful Gazira, standing there in her lovely, red wedding dress, accented with pink and outlined in black. Aaahhh... Such a sweet, sweet, sorrow...! Such a sweet, sweet, sorrow, to have seen her standing there in her beautiful wedding dress, and now... To not even be able to talk to her... Even if she might be... Or even if not...

He choked back another sob. It always got to him, just thinking about them, and their wedding day- It was almost too much to handle! And if even that wasn't enough, the worst day was on their anniversary day...

He bit back another choking sob. No, no, no! He couldn't think of it! He couldn't even think of it, no matter how dear she was to him... And yet... And yet, even if he didn't, he still wanted to...

They were making more progress in the field of science each day. And even _more_ amazing than anything else, the fame, the glory, was the joy that she was going to give birth to a little baby boy!

This had made their entire household incredibly giddy for the next nine months. The testings, the scannings, the injections, the making sure that everything was just right!... And, in time, they soon found themselves the proud, loving parents of a perfectly healthy, happy, baby boy!

"Aaawww...my little maggot!" Smiled Gazira happily, as they observed their new little bundle of joy.

"Sooo...uhhh...what do you want to call him?" Asked Membrane.

"What do I want to call him? You mean, you're letting _me_ decide?" She asked, gazing wonderously at his eyes.

Membrane smiled. "Yeah. I want you to name him. Maybe I'll name the next one."

"Oh! Well, okay!... Ummm..." She paused and thought a moment. Then, she came up with a _marvelous_ idea! "Saaayyy...you know that one name, you know, that name you like...?"

Membrane stared a minute. "Ummm...Yeah..."

"What was it again? 'Dibuthiblee`'?"

"Yeah."

"I think we should call him, 'Dib'!" She said, smiling confidently.

Membrane, a little amazed at all of this, then smiled and said, "That sounds great!"

"Aw, and what do you think of _that_, my little Cate-Dibb-Ar?" She cooed down to their new baby boy, now named "Dib".

Dib just wiggled a little and seemed to smile.

Both Membrane and Gazira laughed lovingly.

Membrane smiled and laughed a little as a few fresh tears made their way down his face. Even with his goggles on, they had made their way through the rubberized protection, and the more tears piled up inside the lenses, the more he had to lift them up every couple of minutes to wipe his eyes.

After lifting his goggles up for a minute to wipe his eyes, he paused. Cate-Dibb-Ar... Where had she _ever_ gotten that name...? He had thought about it, but all he could think of was that it was a reference to when they first met, when he had asked her if she had ever seen a phosphorescent catepillar under a black light. It sure was an interestingly obscure thought, though... But, then again, she was always coming up with weird, interestingly obscure things to relate...

Like when she said that the Lupine genes in the mutated wolf-experiments might be susceptable to pure silver, just as a werewolf was... And, even _more_ interestingly, she was _right_...

Even though he couldn't always understand when she made references like that, he knew better than to question her ideas...

He sighed, and he put his goggles back down on his eyes. He was off-track in his thinking again...what was it he was thinking about...? Oh, yeah, when Dib was born...

Now, with their new bundle of joy, juggling work and home became a problem, but they never thought anything bad about it...

And, of course, what's even _more_ exciting to a new family than having a baby? Why, the exciting news of another one on the way!

About a year after Dib was born, they found out that Gazira was expecting once again, and this time with a little girl! Oh, how the news had excited Membrane! After all of these years, he finally had a little girl to call his "Princess"!

He smiled, thinking about how had he reacted to the news.

After she was born...

"Well, what do you want to call her?" Asked Gazira, as she held the new baby girl in her arms.

"What?" Asked Membrane, as if he had just been snapped out of a trance staring at the baby girl.

Gazira giggled, "You silly! You said that I would get to name the first one, and you would get to name the second! So, now it's _your_ turn to name one! _So_, I was asking, what do you want to name her?"

"Oh, _oh_! Oh, yeah, well, uh!" Said Membrane, trying to think of what to say. "Well, I'm, um..." He stared down at the little baby girl and smiled as he thought about it, "My little Princess! ...I think..." He said, staring over at Gazira, "I think we should name her 'Gaz', after her mother."

Gazira smiled acceptingly at the name, "'Gaz' it is, then! Well, how do you like that, our little Princess?" She asked of the small, wiggling little lump of child in her arms.

Gaz just smiled evilly and wriggled around a little. With that same little evility as her mother had...

Now, of course, juggling work and children became an even bigger problem, but they were happily accepting the new responsiblities with flying colors. With flying colors...even though, just as everything else had, this was soon about to end...

He choked back another sob as he came to the next memories. Even after all of their happiness, and their fame, and their family...it was soon going to end. It was...it was soon going to end. Just as if... He screwed up his face at the idea. Just as if it was some sort-of punishment from someone for something they'd done wrong!... It was just as if...! It was just as if someone out there had hated them. With a writhing hatred. And, even though he knew that it wasn't even so, and she had never even _hinted_ at anything like that, it still felt that way.

I'd hold you

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

He could remember the evening...and the night...and the moment at that time... He screwed up his face in pain once again, but this time, even the tears didn't come.

They were working on a new, inter-dimensional portal-thingy, and they were examining the workings of the different dimensions and their properties and everything. They were excited, and terrified, and enjoying every last minute of it, and they had absolutely no idea...! The dimensional complexities...the tearings!

They were in the lab-room, with about 11 other assistants...or was it 13? No, no, no, she always had an instinctive aversion to that number, so it couldn't have been... Anyways, and they were standing in front of the newest invention, the Inter-Dimesional Portal-Thingy 157 -so-named because, incidentally, that was how many times it took them to get it right!- and they were all beaming with pride.

"So, are you excited, Gazzy?" He asked her, as she stood beside him with the clip-board and recording instrument to examine absolutely everything possible, as if all of the others, the cameras and the computers in the room, weren't enough. He was holding the controls and some other small, control-panel-thingys, which, as she had said, were over-kill as well. But, they just couldn't help it! They had been just sssooo excited about it all!

She turned to him and said, "Heh, are you kidding? I'm about to burst from all the cheer-leading movement going on inside of my body!" She almost giggled despite her nervousness, but then she added, "But, you _know_, if this thing doesn't _work_, that I'm going to have to cause you horrible doom, don'tcha' know." She grinned evilly, in that little way that always made him a little nervous and endeared him at the same time. Even though it usually ended up with him having to avoid her as she went into one of her horribly angry rages once again.

He smiled adoringly, but also with a little trepidation, and said, "Of course, Honey. An' I wouldn't want it _any_ other way."

They both grinned and they almost went into an evil giggling-fit, which usually ended up with them on the floor, laughing, and everyone else wondering what the _heck_ was so horribly funny! But, before they could, the lab-technician next to the I-D P-T 157 monitoring consoles came up to them and informed them.

"Heya-uh, excuse me, Professors, but it's ready."

They both immediately stopped laughing, and, still a little giddy from their inside jokes -that obviously, absolutely _no one_ in their science teams could get- they both said unitedly yet asymmetrically,

"Then begin the start-up procedure!" -Membrane

"Start the beginning procedures now!" -Gazira

And, despite the differences in both of their replies, the lab-assistants understood, and they instantly began their work.

Their computing echoed out and through the entirety of the room, the I-D P-T 157 hummed, and they all watched, entirely focused, as it began electricizing to life.

The warm tingling of electricity filled the air as the machine started up. The electricity even sparked up and arced through the air around everyone as they saw the machine vibrate and come to life. It started to light up, each and every little panel and blinking little light that came on lit up in succession to the right sequencing, sending the extremely ecstatic scientists into a joyous frenzy around the front of the portal. Gazira was the first one to come up with her monitoring equipment and scanning devices and scan the field around the immediate entrance to the I-D P-T 157's portal.

As she held up her little pad and scanner device and checked all the interesting things, she finally piqued up, "IT'S DONE IIITTT! WE'VE FINALLY DONE IT! We've created a portal into another dimension! And it's only got about...a 1.023 chance of sizzling!"

She cheered, he cheered, they all cheered for the ecstatic success of their Inter-Dimensional Portal-Thingy.

Then everything went light. She screamed, the lightnings from it knocked him off his feet and he landed hard on the floor. He went to grab at her as soon as he got back up, but- but it was too late. He cried out in desperation, and clawed at the non-existent wall that now seperated her from him. He then swung his head around and stared at the techs next to him, with a look that could leave a scar burnt deep down into their hearts. He stated with one stinging, and perfectly clear sentence,

"Do it again."

All of the lab assistants looked at him like he was completely off his noggin. "Bu-b-bu-t! But- but it'll -it's- it's just- it's going to- destroy us-"

"DO IT! DO IT AGAIN NOW AND WE CAN SAVE HER! QUICKLY, WHILE SHE'S STILL NEXT TO IT!" He shouted and yelled at all of the lab techs, while they all looked at him like he was slightly insane. "IF WE CAN DO IT RIGHT AWAY WE CAN SAVE HER! HURRY!"

Now all of them, all eleven of the lab techs that were there, were reasoning with him, "But, no, we can't do it now!" "If we do, then who knows -it'll explode!" "The Inter-Dimensional tearings are too delicate!" "PLEASE! We all could die!"

"NO!" He yelled at them, instantly making them cringe. "We'll do it again! AND WE'LL SAVE HER! COME ON! WE'VE GOT TO GET HER BACK!" He yelled again at them, and pushed past them to look at the consoles. "QUICKLY! You! You've got to do the numbers! AND YOU! You'll do the Inter-Dimensional membranes! And YOU!" He pointed each in turn and finally ended on a particularly nervous assistant, who cringed at his attention, "You'll be doing the Techno Button-thingy Pushing!"

All of the other assistants instantly began starting the process, not wanting to be at the recieving end of his rage. "And the rest of you, begin the start-up procedure NOW!" Everyone instantly obeyed, not needing this last command. Whatever it was that they were afraid of, they sure didn't want to find out what _Membrane_ was capable of in an insane raging clamour.

Furiously they worked at their jobs, each one thinking past the incredible fear -the fear of if they did, and the fear of what would happen if they didn't.

And the start-up procedure began again. And the machine began electricizing to life once more. And all of the energy that sparked up and arced around the room, while Membrane waited anxiously around the opening of the portal-thingy, cast an eerie shade as they watched to see what was going to happen. To him. And to them. To all of them.

The equipment began to hum weirdly, and the techs looked up and said, "Quickly, Sir, we have to turn it off!" "It's not goink to be withstanding zis energy forever!"

But he would only reply, in a fervent rage, "No! We have to save her! Do as I say!"

They poiked at the consoles and screens in front of them, and finally reached the critical point in the procedure -there was no turning back. The little nervous assistant pushed the Techno Button-thingy. The other one threw the switch.

"GAZIRA! DON'T WORRY! I'M COMING! MY LOVE!" Membrane shouted over the electricity and the thunderings inside the room.

It exploded. And it was a very _big_ and a very _messy_, explosion.

He was only trying to get back his wife, the woman that he ever, only, loved. And in the process...

It was a dark awakening, despite the small, little bits of light that still sparked around from the electricity. He wasn't even able to tell if it was life or death, until he finally managed to orient his brain.

The entire place was a complete... it was like... it wasn't like anything that had ever happened to him. He stood up slowly and he tried to clear his lungs from all the noxious fumes that were still in the air. It must've been a long time since the explosion; the smoke was cleared and the blackened walls told of the fires that had slowly extinguished themselves.

He stood and tried to walk around the room, only to find that he had to hold onto a table for support. Hhhm...it was still warm... and that must mean that it wouldn't have been that long...! He stumbled around and tripped over a couple of things that were dark and black, and he didn't really think that they were a part of the lab... As he headed for the Inter-Dimensional Portal, which still stood, despite the rest of it being completely and utterly destroyed, he realized that he had been thrown all the way back into the wall on the opposite side of the lab. And it was about that time that he almost hit his foot against the body of one of his dead assistants. It was obvious it was dead, as it was bloodied and burned, and just the sight of it -it didn't have any affect on him! He simply walked, slightly tripping, towards the large circle of the Inter-Dimensional Portal, where, upon approaching it, he finally fell to his face on the floor and cried. And he cried. And he cried... He couldn't even believe it!

He had failed. He had failed to save the only woman he loved. And he had killed everyone else with him. And he alone was the one who had to bear the shame.

He had failed. And he cried, and he cried, until just moaning and groaning was all he could do. He felt as if he was going to be sliced apart from the searing pain of the serrated edges of the tearing knife that was cutting itself away into his soul. He could literally feel it as it sliced its way sharply and rustily through his chest, just trying as it may to cut away at his life.

But...wait a minute...all...they were all a family! But...!- What about the children!? But-but what about the children! They needed a mother, and she was trapped in another dimension, and he didn't even know if she was still alive! 'H- oh, help me!' He thought, holding his head to his chest. 'Help! Oh, help me, anyone! Gazira! My Gazzy!...' He sobbed another sob into his already soaked hands, the blood from his wounds already seeping into his eyes.

The sirens. They must be the emergency sirens. He pulled his head up. The paramedics! The emergency sirens were sounding! How long had they been sounding? No, they'd just started. They were coming, and they would blast in here and see him- and see it...! And he couldn't have that happen! No! No matter how much it cost, he couldn't let his reputation be damaged! He just couldn't! If he did, then he would never be able to continue in his work, and he would never be able to try and find his dear, sweet, angry, Gazira again! And it would all be for naught! All of what he had done, all of what these scientists had sacrificed, it would all be for naught!

And he couldn't let that happen! No, no, not ever! Not ever! He stood up, finally his thoughts cleared, and he could think very clearly about what he would do. He went quickly over to the other consoles that lined the back of the room to his left. They contained the cameras and other information that could point to him. Thankfully, all of their computers had been damaged, but the part of the consoles that contained the camera memory was intact, being built of much harder material in the case of these inevitable explosions. He pushed the button that ejected the disc. He put it into his pocket, feeling the shining, rainbow-colored surface of the disc with his darkened hands. There. There was no disc, and there was no way that they could pin any of it on him. And he had the very obvious, inventive reaction planned of being enraged at the over-sight of someone forgetting to put a disc into the cameras' main memory drive.

And as he turned around, he could hear the paramedics and other officers heading down the hallways to his lab room.

It was time for the First Act.

It wasn't so hard to get everyone to believe him. With his blood and tear-stained face, and the way he kept up his blabbering about losing Gazira and everyone, they instantly sympathized with him. It also didn't hurt that his reputation was infalliable, and he had never purposely built something dangerous or evil. (Not that Gazira didn't doom people every now and then, but that was besides the point, as it had absolutely nothing to do with her inventions. Sometimes...) With no other witnesses, either, and the eleven corpses found to belong to the assistants, it was officially concluded that the Inter-Dimensional Portal-Thingy 157 had sucked Professor Gazira inside before exploding and killing everyone else except for Professor Membrane, who only survived because he was also standing in front of the portal. After the investigations and media frenzy had died down, he was finally able to get back to his normal life, and officially grieve for his lost wife.

His in-laws had of course demanded to know everything that happened. Providing them with only the information he'd given the Police and everyone else, he had the hinting suspicion that they knew more of what happened than he'd told them. But that couldn't be possible, because mind-reading equipment was illegal, and psychics didn't exist. Or so he thought.

In fact, some of them _were_ psychics, and they could very easily see what he was hiding. Not that they or the rest of the family minded, so his reputation was in no danger, since they were very good at keeping secrets.

After that incident, he didn't hear much from his in-laws. He either wasn't contacted by them, or he didn't care, being too wrapped up in his own research on that Inter-Dimensional Portal-Thingy. He couldn't remember which... It just didn't seem to matter, anymore. Nothing mattered, besides getting Gazira back, and taking care of his kids.

As he worked so hard to comprehend what had happened with Inter-Dimensional Portal-Thingy 157, he spent less and less time with other people. Although, eventually he was pulled out of his extreme depression after two years, he was still having difficulty relating to anyone or anything other than his work and his children. He couldn't be sure, but it probably had something to do with his in-laws insisting that he visit them once a year or so... They, at least, could share his pain about what had happened.

He put his head in his hands, rubbing his head until he felt the hair pull out from his scalp. His children had been so young...! Dib was three, and Gaz had just turned two. There was literally no time for anything else in those first two years... He couldn't even focus on that first experiment. 'The "Ultimate Human Project", what a load of-!' He choked back the sob in his throat as he thought of it. There was nothing more important than his family and getting her back...! So, that experiment could simply be continued when she was home again, right...?

Right...?

When she was home... Again, he felt himself almost choke with another sob. He could still smell her scent... It smelled so good...!

Your clothes are still scattered

...

...

...

...

He leaned back and let his head lay on the large, king-sized bed. It felt so good... It felt like home...! He wanted to be strong, to pretend like he didn't have to be there, but in reality...!

In reality, he couldn't stand being around the things that reminded him of her. She just wasn't there: so, why was he so scared of it? Why, when he knew that he just had to complete the I-D P-T 159, and she'd be with him, once again...? If it worked, that is... No, he couldn't allow it to fail! He WOULD NOT! So, he shouldn't be this scared to open the closet and see a few papers falling out from it...

And even when he had no other reason to, other than... Still, he kept his room just the same as it had always been. With the hundreds of knick-knacks and trinkets, with the things that he couldn't even possibly need, with the books and the dressers, and the drawers, and...the vanity...with the various piles of clothes that lay down so nicely and hung so prettily up in the closets.

He needed to keep things just as they had been, in order to welcome her back. Back home. Where they could finally continue where they had left off, all those years ago... It was necessary...!

He had to endorse various inventions, he had to insist that the rest of the world joined in the "real science!" learning-curve. If they didn't, then how could he continue the work that they had begun? How could he ensure that he would continue getting useful assistants, people who knew and understood scientific principle...?! Just how could he endorse those things, without an aim, a goal to live by...?

He already had his own aim, his own goal. He knew who he had to save. He'd made sure to take care of their children; he recorded himself reading them stories to play for them at night, he constantly made sure that he could contact them at all times; he'd even record morning messages for them if it was needed...!

And these were our words

...

...

And so, there wasn't really anything else to aim for, was there...?

Remembering their goal to bring scientific enlightenment to the entire world, he needed to continue in his research. He needed to bring back Gazira. He needed his children to have their mother. He needed her...!

He felt his eyes close as he lay there on the bed. It felt so soft, compared to falling asleep at a lab-desk. He could let himself go in this place; he could relax and just rest...

The sun was shining, even though it was foggy and gray clouds hung over their heads. He was outside at the park with his children, but it wasn't any park around where they lived. He assumed it was at a park in Targe`t, Muscatane, the place where her family lived...

There was some laughter as the kids were playing. The scene was becoming much clearer, and his faint feeling of shock was replaced by the false feelings of normality accompanying any dream as he turned to face the familiar face in front of him. She smiled as he did this.

"Why, hello, there, stranger!" She said, opening her eyes just slightly so he could see her honey-colored irises. Her black mascara complemented her light complexion, and the fuschia lipstick he last remembered her wearing was as bright as ever. Her matching hair hung down over her shoulders and down her back, curling up into sharp points. Her bangs, matching Gaz's, resembled sharp claws hanging over her face.

He felt himself try to reply, but his voice failed him. An odd feeling of remorse accompanied this, as the briefest thought of, 'This always happens whenever I fall asleep in this room,' passed through his mind before being swept away by the dream's false feelings. He made no response as he smiled back at her, like in the old times. The old days were now forgotten, though, in this dream.

"I thought that you wouldn't come back; you haven't been here for such a long time," she replied, looking down in a confusingly longing expression. It didn't make sense, because in this dream, they were together like they should be.

His mind instantly thought up an equitable reason for it, though, as he said, "Oh, I'm sorry, things ran longer than expected at the Lab," he smirked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. She was normally so angry sometimes, so he had good reason to worry about this.

But this time she didn't get angry with him. Odd, once again, but the dream's fog swept it away. Instead, she looked down and sighed, "So, how are the kids?" Huh? That question didn't make sense at all -but his mind thought up a pretty good reason for it, too.

"Oh," he started, remembering that the latest I-D P-T project had taken place in Targe`t, and that she had only just returned. "Gaz is doing fine! She just loves the 'Vampire Piggy Hunter' series of video games-" his lovely and scary wife laughed gently as he said this, "-And Dib is still slightly insane -he's obsessed with aliens, and the TSs are tailing him."

"What!?" She asked, understandably surprised. The "TSs" meant "Tech Stealers", and was used to refer to the Men in Black, who were government agents that usually liked to steal technology from anyone and anything, and suppress knowledge. "What happened!?"

"I don't know exactly why, but apparently he ran into them at one of his psychic's shows at the Rouletebille," he explained easily. This was one of those times when real-life overlapped into a dream. "He was able to stop them from setting off a bomb of some kind, but they'd already used their mind-swaying suggestion spray on the crowd; thankfully, his immune-system is much better than an ordinary child's.

"He escaped, and they came to the house looking for him. I don't remember much about what happened, but I don't think they got any information, since I didn't know anything about it at that time. However, when I questioned our son, he was able to tell me. Our daughter also had a run-in with them -but she seems to have inherited your, eh, extreme strength..."

His wife smiled again, and this time he could see her eyes just slightly sparkle under those thick eyelashes. He smiled as well at that thought. "That's my girl!" She said, with an evilish-grin. She certainly had her mother's side, that girl.

But as for their son... "That reminds me, of the questions I seem to remember that the TSs asked me, there was one that was puzzling. They asked if our son had any new acquaintances. Isn't that unusual?"

His wife instantly sobered up, "What _kind _of acquaintances?" She asked, her eyes seeming to open much wider at this.

"I-I don't know. Our son seemed to think that it was a mistake; but for some reason, I just can't put it out of my mind. Perhaps he has a new friend or something?"

Her eyes were still wide, but she simply said, "Perhaps," with a stoic look on her face.

"In any case, I told him to be careful of his friends, just as a precaution. The TS's mind-swaying drug works on almost everyone."

She nodded, but her mouth was twisted into a thoughtful pout. The atmosphere around them seemed to turn darker. The fog was lifting; yet it was coming in much heavier. There was little to no sense of what was going on. But his wife seemed to notice this, as she tried to turn to him and say something more. The majority of the words were lost on the wind as more an more fog poured in and the darkness got thicker. But he was able to make out some of what she'd said.

There was a beeping sound, and as he tried to hold onto the dream, the words out of his wife's mouth whispered, "Be ...reful; our son ...not be..as insane as you think..." before the darkness wrapped all around them, and for a second he thought he saw a clearly black area dotted with pale lights, but it was gone as the typical blackness of sleep overcame it.

The fuzzy blackness was now punctuated by a red light each time the beeping sounded, and he realized his eyes were closed. Moving his eyes, he felt for sure that he was still asleep.

Opening his eyes with a gasp, he soon realized that the red light and beeping came from the Global Connection he kept on his arm. Pressing the button to answer it, he heard his assistant's voice, Steven, over the speakers in the sides of his goggles. Sighing tiredly, he pulled his goggles down so that he could answer him. "Sir! There's some trouble down in the Nuclear Nun-cle-ar Labs! Please get here quick!"

I'd hold ya

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Sighing and leaning up once again, he answered the call with, "Alright! I'm on my way down there," before thinking that he wished he could return to that dream once again.

It didn't happen very often, but sometimes he could swear that he was speaking directly to her in his dreams. And he loved every minute of it. He wanted it to happen every night; of course, then he could possibly consider himself "insane due to intense trauma", because only then could he possibly believe that.

But it was better than nothing... He also wondered if this was what his son loved about insanity...the idea that all you've ever wanted just being right there. The words his wife had said were suddenly echoing in his mind once more...

It was odd, and yet she hadn't thought that he was that insane... That couldn't be true; but it was a refreshing outlook. Perhaps he should fall asleep in his own room more often: sleep was important to the mind for sorting things out. He was refreshed after that dream, but he bit his lip anyways as he considered what he had to do. He should grab something to eat, as well, on his way out.

As he walked from his room on the main floor to the kitchen, he saw his son heading upstairs; stopping suddenly on an impulse, he just said, "Hey, Son!" then wondered what else he was going to say to follow up on that.

"Huh?" Said Dib, as he turned around on the top of the stairs, looking over the banister. "What? What is it, Dad?"

Suddenly finding something to mention, his father said, "I was just thinking of heading to the kitchen for a snack before heading off to the Nuclear Nun-cle-ar Labs; have you eaten, yet?"

"Uhm," obviously at an impasse, between spending time with his father and doing whatever it is he was up to, Dib said, "I have, but, uh, there's some nacho cheese and chips if you want, in there."

Smiling ironically, unseen under his high collar, his father simply said, "Thanks, Son. Have fun doing..whatever it is you were doing!" He was thinking about how typical it was for a boy to be acting like this, and he just had to laugh. At least he was normal in that respect.

A quick smile and a, "Thanks, Dad!" before he ran off to his room to do whatever it is he was so intent on doing.

'Yup', thought his father as he chuckled lightly to himself, 'That's completely normal.'

As he made his way into the kitchen, he glanced in through to the living room and smiled to himself. There was his -no, their- little girl, and she was playing video-games like always. That was the most typical scene for her, and he smirked even wider as he thought about this.

"Good evening, Daughter!" He said, then watched as she took the time to pause the game before responding.

"Hi, Dad. There's some salsa and beans to go with the nachos in the 'fridge." She replied, seeming to know exactly everything that was going on. Of course, that made sense, because he wasn't exactly quiet and sneaking around.

"Thanks, I think I will have some of that..." he replied, turning towards the kitchen, then, remembering, he turned back and said, "I have to go to the Nuclear Nun-cle-ar Labs to help with a little problem they have there, so I'll be back later tonight."

"Mm-hmm," replied Gaz, "Take care." Before turning back to her game as he walked to the kitchen to get his little snack.

Yes, life was continuing much the same as before; only this time, he hoped he was a lot closer to finding his dear Gazira...

If you were in these arms tonight

If you were in these arms tonight

If you were in these arms

Baby

Like the roses need the rain

Like the seasons need to change

Like the poet needs the pain

I need you

In these arms tonight

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Fantôme Du Marrage: Literally, "Phantom of the Moor". I thought it sounded nice and pretty~ I used Babel-fish to translate that into French, and got "Fantôme De L'aMarrage", which was nice and looked pretty, but the extra syllable made it awkward to pronounce. (Yes, I am picky like that~!

Anyways, while looking up stuffs online I checked out a wikipedia page about French Last Names,  wiki/French_name#Most_common_family_names_in_Franc e which mentioned that sometimes the two little words, "of the", or "de la" in French would be contracted into one word, "du". Since it seemed like a good way to make the name roll off the tongue more easily, I changed it to Fantôme Du Marrage, but it doesn't look as nice... Oh, wells, I'm sure any native or fluent French-speakers who are reading this can point out my mistakes in the reviews~!

Sos anyone who knows French REALLY well, pretty-please tell me if I'm right or not! I beg of you in my infinite ignorance! Save me from Babel-fish- and Wikipedia-based mistakes! 'Cause those are really annoying...

NEXT UP:

Since you're probably wondering the most about this, where did I get the name "Gazira" from...? Technically, it came from Akira Toriyama's "Dr. Slump" series! You see, when they're naming "Ga-chan", Arale mixes two monster names, The "Ga" from Gamera and the "zilla" from Godzilla to make "Gazilla".

However, a couple of times in the English version it was translated as it would be in Japanese, with the "L" replaced by "R". So it was "Gazirra". I liked the name, since it sounded like a longer version of "Gaz". Hence, the name of Membrane's wife became "Gazira"!

(It's pronounced: "Gaz-ee-rah")

Since it's ALSO a good Monster reference, and Gazira's family is basically the representative of all Monsters, it's only natural that she'd be named after monsters, as well! *Laughs* It's kind-of amazing how it all works out, huh?!

NEXT IS:

As for the family itself, it's "The Representative of all Monsters and Scary Things and Stuffs", in other words, Gazira would be -sort-of- the Monster Queen! *Laughs* Don't worry, it's not as lame as it sounds~! Think more along the lines of "representatives" and "dignitaries" and "guardians".

Gaz is the Monster Princess! Sailor Moon, eat your heart out!

(I think that makes sense, since during "Career Day", she's seen with one of the guards of her father's laboratories! At least, it made sense to me...! The fact that she can cause doom and destruction to things around her, her intense anger...!)

I came up with this idea because Gaz is so creepy and scary; inhuman, almost~! Since I couldn't use the whole, "Daughter of Evil" thing, I used "Monsters and Scary Things" as the premise. It makes a lot more sense, and it doesn't tread on any toes of Jhonen Vasquez's other work!

NEXT ONE:

The Origin of Dib's name taken from my "Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, 1937". (I looked it up just to see if it had any meaning at all~!)

ACHEMS! *Starts singing to the tune of "Bippity Boppity Boo" from "Cinderella"*

Dib- _v.t._ and _v.i._ To dip, plunge. Especially to dip bait into the water in angling.

Dibatis- _n_ One of the valid moods. (See _Mood_.) (When I saw "Mood", It still didn't make any sense! But I suppose it just means some sort of "moody-ness"!)

Dibble- _n_ A pointed instrument, used in gardening and agriculture, to make holes for planting seeds.

Dibutyl- _n_ A metamer of octane.

Dibranchiata- _n. pl._ An order of cephalopods in which the branchiae are two in number, situated on each side of the body. The group is divided into two tribes, the decapods and the octopods.

Put them together and what have you got? Dibuthiblee`! I added the extra "e" with an accent mark to make it look and sound a little better!

BUT his name's still _just _Dib. Yup. That was all just to give some sort of strange origin to his name.

AND FINALLY:

I included a reference to "PSYCH-OUT!" at the end, but if you haven't read the third chapter to it, then it won't make any sense. Sos if you haven't read it yet, just take a quick glance at it! There's some revelations into what their mother's side of the family is like, as well, sos you'll be able to understand some of that stuff.

(Also: If you're afraid of DATR:) The DATR isn't really all that obvious: in reality, it takes until the third chapter to keep them from irritating each other, so it's REALLY REALLY slowly developing! In any case, I try to keep them in character, and I doubt Tak would actually want to stick around for any length of time without some outside influence... Otherwise, you really won't even notice it. I have a hard time finding it!

Whelp, that's all there is to it! For any and all of yous who stuck around and read through that entire thing: CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE-CHIP MUFFIIIINNNSSS! And for anyone else... Read and Review! ...Wait, that doesn't make any sense~!


End file.
